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Concerns are growing around access to a key trade route for oil tankers as strikes and tensions continue across the Middle East.
19:22, Sun, Mar 1, 2026 Updated: 19:43, Sun, Mar 1, 2026
Experts are warning the price of fuel is set to rise (Image: Getty)
Crude oil prices are expected to sky-rocket on Monday, reports say. This rise is predicted to have an almost immediate impact on the price of fuel at filling stations.
It comes amid continued tensions and strikes across the Middle East. Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on targets throughout the region in response to US and Israeli military action which killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday. Concerns are growing around access to a key trade route for oil tankers.
File image of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz (Image: Getty)
On Sunday, two vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow opening of the Persian Gulf which acts as a vital shipping route for the global oil trade, were struck by an “unknown projectile”, according to the UK Maritime Trade Organisation (UKMTO).
A third vessel in the area was later reported to have been hit.
At least 150 tankers dropped anchor in the open Gulf waters beyond the strait on Sunday, as reported by Reuters, suggesting significant disruption.
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Strikes are continuing across the Middle East, including in Tehran (Image: Getty)
Around 20% of the world’s oil and gas travels through the 21-mile wide waters between Iran, Oman and the UAE.
EuroWeekly News reports as soon as stock exchanges open tomorrow (Monday March 2) morning, crude oil prices are expected to shoot up which will likely have an impact on customers.
It quoted economic analyst Shanaka Anslem Perera as warning Iran has effectively made the Strait of Hormuz “uninsurable”, with underwriters and fleets refusing travel amid the rising tensions.
Analysts from Goldman Sachs predict Brent crude will peak at around £82 per barrel, while JP Morgan sees approximately £89 to £97 if disruptions carry on, EuroWeekly News reports.
Jorge Leon, senior vice president and head of geopolitical analysis at energy intelligence firm Rystad Energy, said that, if the Strait of Hormuz was blocked, the resulting spike in oil prices could directly impact consumers in the UK.
Mr Leon said the waterway sees between 15 million barrels of crude oil pass through its waters each day, amounting to around a third of the global crude trade.
Qatar, on the Persian Gulf, is one of the world’s biggest exporters of liquified natural gas, and closing the strait could also impact these shipments, he added.
Disruptions in the liquid natural gas markets could drive up gas prices, which Mr Leon said were closely linked to the price of electricity.
He said: “A higher electricity price will feed through the global economy, and, in particular in the UK, (lead to) higher inflation.
“We have a direct effect – which is higher prices at the pump and higher electricity bills, but also a secondary effect, which is things will get more expensive because inflation might increase.”
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Mr Leon said that this outcome would only materialise if there was no de-escalation of conflict in the region, and the disruption was lasting.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps reportedly informed vessels on Saturday that passage through the Strait of Hormuz was forbidden.
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